The New Roster -- Where is the Athleticism?

[Rico444]

Terrific defender? I would call him good. He didn't have the greatest lateral quickness and got beat off the dribble a lot and tried to make up for that by trying to block someone from behind. He will definitely have to improve this in the next level where the court is even more open.

I completely disagree. I wouldn't say he got beat off the dribble "a lot." I can't think of many times it happened in the NCAAs, for a guy that gets beat "a lot."

 

[husky429]

Terrific defender? I would call him good. He didn't have the greatest lateral quickness and got beat off the dribble a lot and tried to make up for that by trying to block someone from behind. He will definitely have to improve this in the next level where the court is even more open.

Andre was one of the best defenders in the country. Certainly in the tournament. His getting beat off the dribble was by design--we pressure the point of attack and take away the 3. That is expected to give up the drive. Conveniently, we often had a 7'3 behemoth at the rim to make up for it.

 

[Com'rGordon]

If you posit a starting lineup of Castle, Newton, Karaban & Clingan -- and plug, say, Cam Spencer into the 3, a question arises. Where is the athleticism in this lineup? Where is the quickness? Where is the transitional speed?

Indeed, is it an exaggeration to say that this would be the least athletic starting lineup in the modern era of UConn basketball? There is no Jackson, no Hawkins, no Sanogo and no near facsimiles..

Is this a concern?

On offense at least, we might see a compensation in the passing ability of this lineup which seems to be considerable. We'll see a lot of smart ball movement, quite probably. The challenge is more apt to come on defense, and even there the rim protection we'll get from Clingan may offset the lack of quickness on the perimeter.

But important help may come from the freshmen. Ball, Stewart, Ross and Singare are all athletes. Ross, imo, is the full package at the 3, and I'd love to see him start there. Instead of a Spencer to start, I rather have Ross start and a Calcaterra-type to back him up. Ball and Stewart are the wildcards. Each is positioned behind a 30-minute starter, but the surprise of the season may be how their athleticism earns them additional minutes. I'm also among the few here who do not write-off Singare, who looks, to my eye, quick and agile.. In short, I like the freshmen to be important contributors, for the very reason that our "best" players this year are not world-class athletes and there are times when we will need athletes on the floor.

Guarantee this guy’s never seen Castle and Solo Ball highlights.

Freak athletes

 

[HuskyHawk]

It's remarkable how consistently the Boneyard manufactures problems. I swear some of you could be dating Ana de Armas and would be concerned about the small mole on her left cheek. Cuba may not have very good sunscreens, could it be skin cancer? Doomed.

The team will be different. Better at some things worse at others. It will be fun to watch and learn what those are. I'm sure we will be surprised in some ways, and that's what's fun about it.

 

[TheHorde]

I completely disagree. I wouldn't say he got beat off the dribble "a lot." I can't think of many times it happened in the NCAAs, for a guy that gets beat "a lot.

It's remarkable how consistently the Boneyard manufactures problems. I swear some of you could be dating Ana de Armas and would be concerned about the small mole on her left cheek. Cuba may not have very good sunscreens, could it be skin cancer? Doomed.

The team will be different. Better at some things worse at others. It will be fun to watch and learn what those are. I'm sure we will be surprised in some ways, and that's what's fun about it.

Agreed though Alleyne is dating Nika Mühl, won a ring at UConn, and then transferred to St John’s thus moving away from Nika lmao.

 

[ElGreco]

If you posit a starting lineup of Castle, Newton, Karaban & Clingan -- and plug, say, Cam Spencer into the 3, a question arises. Where is the athleticism in this lineup? Where is the quickness? Where is the transitional speed?

Indeed, is it an exaggeration to say that this would be the least athletic starting lineup in the modern era of UConn basketball? There is no Jackson, no Hawkins, no Sanogo and no near facsimiles..

Is this a concern?

On offense at least, we might see a compensation in the passing ability of this lineup which seems to be considerable. We'll see a lot of smart ball movement, quite probably. The challenge is more apt to come on defense, and even there the rim protection we'll get from Clingan may offset the lack of quickness on the perimeter.

But important help may come from the freshmen. Ball, Stewart, Ross and Singare are all athletes. Ross, imo, is the full package at the 3, and I'd love to see him start there. Instead of a Spencer to start, I rather have Ross start and a Calcaterra-type to back him up. Ball and Stewart are the wildcards. Each is positioned behind a 30-minute starter, but the surprise of the season may be how their athleticism earns them additional minutes. I'm also among the few here who do not write-off Singare, who looks, to my eye, quick and agile.. In short, I like the freshmen to be important contributors, for the very reason that our "best" players this year are not world-class athletes and there are times when we will need athletes on the floor.

Few teams ever have freak athletes like Andre & Bouknight. We are fine!!

 

[3rdbass]

Andre was one of the best defenders in the country. Certainly in the tournament. His getting beat off the dribble was by design--we pressure the point of attack and take away the 3. That is expected to give up the drive. Conveniently, we often had a 7'3 behemoth at the rim to make up for it.

I didn't see that as he got scored on a lot defensively. Like I said I dsagree on how great he was defensively. He was good but no the best even in the league. I think you are looking at how athletic he was and not his skills. I thought Alleyne played better man to man defense. Jaskson was good on help defense for sure.

 

[TheHorde]

I didn't see that as he got scored on a lot defensively. Like I said I dsagree on how great he was defensively. He was good but no the best even in the league. I think you are looking at how athletic he was and not his skills. I thought Alleyne played better man to man defense. Jaskson was good on help defense for sure.

Some of it also was a function of taking chances jumping into passing lanes and overplaying guys knowing that he had an eraser on the back line in the form of Clingan.

 

[superjohn]

It's remarkable how consistently the Boneyard manufactures problems. I swear some of you could be dating Ana de Armas and would be concerned about the small mole on her left cheek. Cuba may not have very good sunscreens, could it be skin cancer? Doomed.

The team will be different. Better at some things worse at others. It will be fun to watch and learn what those are. I'm sure we will be surprised in some ways, and that's what's fun about it.

I love how you manage to sneak Ana de Armas into like half your posts.

 

[navery12]

I didn't see that as he got scored on a lot defensively. Like I said I dsagree on how great he was defensively. He was good but no the best even in the league. I think you are looking at how athletic he was and not his skills. I thought Alleyne played better man to man defense. Jaskson was good on help defense for sure.

Then you weren't watching. And yes, Jackson actually was the best in the league

 

[444JR]

Castle 6'7
Newton 6'5
Transfer
Karaban 6'8
Clingan 7'3

Diarra 6'2
Ball 6'4
Stewart 6'7
Roumoglu 6'7
Ross 6'8
Johnson 6'10
Singare 7'0


Plenty of size and athleticism here with Clingan cleaning up in the paint. This group needs to answer the toughness question early on. We know what Clingan, Karaban, and Diarra can bring in terms of toughness. I see Newton making a big jump in toughness off the back of a National Championship where he was instrumental in the team's success. Jackson, Sanogo, and Hawkins all brought pro-level toughness to the way they competed. The listed bench, outside of Diarra, needs to show they can make tough plays in big moments.

Need shooting, experience, and maybe a depth big man with the last two scholarships. I remember reading that Hurley might not use all 13 scholarships

 

[3rdbass]

Then you weren't watching. And yes, Jackson actually was the best in the league

View attachment 88639

I was watching and I did say he was great on help defense. I just saw him got beat off the dribble a lot more than a player like Alleyne did. He didn't win the defensivie player award as Ryan won that. Not saying Ryan is a better defensive player but just saying that Andre wasn't this outstanding defensive player. He was solid but still has issues with lateral quickness aginast smaller guards.

 

[husky429]

I didn't see that as he got scored on a lot defensively. Like I said I dsagree on how great he was defensively. He was good but no the best even in the league. I think you are looking at how athletic he was and not his skills. I thought Alleyne played better man to man defense. Jaskson was good on help defense for sure.

I mean, as others have said... your eye test is wrong. We have objective measures of this stuff.

 

[navery12]

I was watching and I did say he was great on help defense. I just saw him got beat off the dribble a lot more than a player like Alleyne did. He didn't win the defensivie player award as Ryan won that. Not saying Ryan is a better defensive player but just saying that Andre wasn't this outstanding defensive player. He was solid but still has issues with lateral quickness aginast smaller guards.

Repeating the same incorrect statements over and over again isn't going to suddenly make them right. You were wrong about Andre all offseason when you trashed him, you were wrong about him early in the season when you trashed him, and you're wrong about him now

 

[superjohn]

I was watching and I did say he was great on help defense. I just saw him got beat off the dribble a lot more than a player like Alleyne did. He didn't win the defensivie player award as Ryan won that. Not saying Ryan is a better defensive player but just saying that Andre wasn't this outstanding defensive player. He was solid but still has issues with lateral quickness aginast smaller guards.

Kalkbrenner was better defensively but Andre was a great defender.

 

[notEwekon]

It's remarkable how consistently the Boneyard manufactures problems. I swear some of you could be dating Ana de Armas and would be concerned about the small mole on her left cheek. Cuba may not have very good sunscreens, could it be skin cancer? Doomed.

The team will be different. Better at some things worse at others. It will be fun to watch and learn what those are. I'm sure we will be surprised in some ways, and that's what's fun about it.

Manufactured problems present a unique opportunity for manufactured solutions

 

[Huskyforlife]

It’s a problem, the people pretending it’s not are just carrying water. But no team is perfect.

Our team last year lacked consistent dribble drive penetration, which you’d think is a must have for championship offenses. We still won the title in dominating fashion. You can make make up for weaknesses with good game planning and elite strengths in other areas, which we have on paper.

Getting Spencer will exacerbate this issue, but our lack of veteran shooting is probably a bigger problem than athleticism, so we should be happy with that addition.

 

[superjohn]

It’s a problem, the people pretending it’s not are just carrying water. But no team is perfect.

Our team last year lacked consistent dribble drive penetration, which you’d think is a must have for championship offenses. We still won the title in dominating fashion. You can make make up for weaknesses with good game planning and elite strengths in other areas, which we have on paper.

Getting Spencer will exacerbate this issue, but our lack of veteran shooting is probably a bigger problem than athleticism, so we should be happy with that addition.

Athleticism is a problem for UConn basketball next season?

You really want to stick with that?

 

[Horatio]

It’s a problem, the people pretending it’s not are just carrying water. But no team is perfect.

Our team last year lacked consistent dribble drive penetration, which you’d think is a must have for championship offenses. We still won the title in dominating fashion. You can make make up for weaknesses with good game planning and elite strengths in other areas, which we have on paper.

Getting Spencer will exacerbate this issue, but our lack of veteran shooting is probably a bigger problem than athleticism, so we should be happy with that addition.

I promise you, next years team is Phi Slamma Jamma compared to our 2014 Championship team

 

[Sphinx]

A word from the OP:

To all of you who responded thoughtfully -- I stand corrected.
To all of you who agreed with me -- let's meet some time for double solitaire.
To the Sphinx-triggered "ha-ha" bots -- Kootchy Kootchy Koo.

 

[MDHuskFan]

Solo would have been the 2nd best athlete on our championship team. Dre was a next level athlete who we’ll talk about athleticism wise for a while.

Non issue

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Even for this place it feels early to be inventing problems to worry about.

 

[OceanDoggie]

We could really use Nahiem Alleyne on the roster right now.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Personally I would like to see the starting lineup

Tristen Newton
Stephon Castle
Samson Johnson
Alex Karaban
Donovan Clingan

1993 called. It wants its lineup back.

That lineup would lead the universe in rebounding but would never score.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Was Arkansas athletic this past season? I seem to remember reading that they were one of the more athletic teams out there and I vividly remember Clingan beating the entire Arkansas team the full length of the court on one exceptionally memorable play.

More relevantly, Arkansas couldn't shoot. I'll take a team of savvy basketball players who can dribble, pass, and shoot, over one who can win dunk contests but can't win 5 on 5.

 

[inWV]

The only major difference in athleticism will be attributed to the loss of Jackson, and what he brought to the table will be hard (if not impossible) to replicate next season. Fortunately that doesn't mean we can't still be really good.

Jackson is a generational athletic talent wrt the UCONN program. I think you’ll see Karaban pick up some of the distribution load. I think he’s the next glue guy. On the plus side, whoever replaces Andre will be a better shooter.

 

[dennismenace]

We get more athletic at the rim next year.

Agree and I am really looking forward to the development of Singare and having him come in off the bench. The team as a whole looks to me like a a real nice blend of depth, talent and skills that just needs to be brought up to Uconn standards and work together in unity to create another juggernaut.

So exciting to have these young guys together with the staff we have. Hoping more of them will check in for the summer.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Athleticism is a problem for UConn basketball next season?

You really want to stick with that?

Yeah? Does pretending problems not exist make their existence vanish?

I still think it’s a top 15 team minimum before adding Spencer.

 

[navery12]

Yeah? Does pretending problems not exist make their existence vanish?

I still think it’s a top 15 team minimum before adding Spencer.

There's plenty of actual problems to point to with next year's team (keeping in mind it's an incomplete roster). A lack of athleticism wouldn't even crack the top 100

 

[TheChamps990411]

Clingan, Newton, and Castle Are very good athletes. I feel that Ball and Ross are too. Hawkins and Sanogo are all time great Huskies but I’m not sure I would categorize either as elite athletes.

Ball and Ross are so underrated. Those two are going to have more impact than many think. I was right about Sanogo a couple years ago, i was right about Clingan and im going to be right again. Mark my words.